Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden
Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in New Jersey, USA
Diocese of Camden
Dioecesis Camdensis
|
|
---|---|
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
|
|
![]()
Coat of Arms of the Diocese of Camden
|
|
Location | |
Country |
![]() |
Territory |
![]() |
Ecclesiastical province | Metropolitan Province of Newark |
Statistics | |
Population
- Catholics |
475,000 (34.5%) |
Parishes | 62 |
Information | |
Denomination | Catholic |
Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | December 9, 1937 |
Cathedral | Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception |
Patron saint | Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception [1] |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Bishop | Dennis J. Sullivan |
Metropolitan Archbishop | Joseph Tobin |
Bishops emeritus | Joseph A. Galante |
Map | |
![]() |
|
Website | |
camdendiocese.org |
This article
needs additional citations for
verification
.
Please help
improve this article
by
adding citations to reliable sources
. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( January 2017 ) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message ) |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden is a Roman Catholic diocese of the Latin Church in the U.S. state of New Jersey . It consists of 62 parishes and about 475,000 Catholics in the South Jersey counties of Atlantic – Camden , Cape May , Cumberland , Gloucester , and Salem .
The Bishop of Camden presides from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Camden , although most major ceremonies are held at Saint Agnes Catholic Church in Blackwood . Some liturgies are held at St. Joseph Pro-Cathedral in Camden .
Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan has been bishop of the diocese since 2013. The oldest parish, founded in 1848, is St. Mary's in Gloucester City .
History
![]() |
This section
needs expansion
with: additional history for the Diocese of Camden 1937
–
present. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
March 2015
)
|
Pope Pius XI erected the Diocese of Camden on December 9, 1937, taking its present territory from the Diocese of Trenton and designating the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Camden as its cathedral. The new diocese had 75 diocesan priests and 11 priests of religious communities to serve approximately 100,000 Catholics in 49 parishes and 31 missions, plus thirty elementary and five secondary schools. [2]
Following completion of its construction in 1952, St. Joseph Church in Camden was declared to be a pro-cathedral because the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was too small for cathedral functions.
On April 2, 2008, Bishop Joseph Anthony Galante announced the closing of roughly half of the parishes in the diocese. This followed a previous announcement of the closing of various Catholic schools. The Diocese of Camden was led by Bishop Galante until his resignation was accepted on Jan. 8, 2013.
Sexual abuse scandal
On February 13, 2019, all of the Catholic Dioceses based in New Jersey released the names of clergy who had been credibly accused of sexually abusing children since 1940. [3] Of the 188 listed, 57 were based in the Diocese of Camden. [3] Cardinal Joseph Tobin , Archbishop of Newark and metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical province that encompasses Diocese of Camden, also acknowledged that the alleged acts of abuse committed by the clergy listed were reported to law enforcement agencies. [3] On February 9, 2020, it was reported that all five Catholic dioceses across the state of New Jersey, which includes the Diocese of Camden, had paid over $11 million to compensate 105 claims of sexual abuse committed by Catholic clergy. [4] Of these 105 claims, 98 were compensated through settlements. [4] The payments also do not involve 459 other sexual abuse cases in these dioceses which are still not resolved. [4] On July 31, 2020, the Diocese of Camden suspended future payments to alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse, citing the financial impact stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic . [5]
On August 20, 2020, four new lawsuits were filed against the Diocese of Camden involving three priests who were alleged to have committed sexual abuse while teaching at high schools run by the Diocese. [6] One accused priest, Rev. Kenneth L. Johnston, had served as principal of Gloucester Catholic and St. James high schools. [6] Two of the four new lawsuits were also filed against Rev. Eldridge Evans, a former teacher at St. James High School. [6] Another lawsuit alleged sexual abuse by the Rev. Gerald P. Clements, who taught at Camden Catholic High School. [6] All three priests are dead. [6] On December 1, 2020, it was revealed that the Diocese of Camden was among more than 230 sex abuse lawsuits filed within a period of one year against New Jersey Catholic Dioceses. [7]
In April 2022, the diocese agreed to pay $87.5 million to settle the abuse claims, one of the largest such settlements involving the Catholic Church in the United States. [8]
Bankruptcy
On October 1, 2020, the Diocese of Camden filed a bankruptcy petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey . The diocese cited civil liability arising from abuse settlements and difficulties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic as the primary sources of financial distress. [9]
Bishops
The following are lists of bishops and auxiliary bishops of the diocese and their years of service, followed by other priests of this diocese who became bishops:
Bishops of Camden
- Bartholomew J. Eustace (1938-1956)
- Justin J. McCarthy (1957-1959)
- Celestine Damiano (1960-1967), Archbishop (personal title)
- George Henry Guilfoyle (1968-1989)
- James T. McHugh (1989-1998), appointed Coadjutor Bishop and later Bishop of Rockville Centre
- Nicholas Anthony DiMarzio (1999-2003), appointed Bishop of Brooklyn
- Joseph Anthony Galante (2004-2013)
- Dennis Joseph Sullivan (2013–present) [10]
Former auxiliary bishop
- James Louis Schad (1966-1993)
Other priests of the diocese who became bishops
- Miguel Pedro Mundo (1962-1978), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Jataí and later Bishop of Jataí
- James F. Checchio (1992-2016), appointed Bishop of Metuchen
Schools
High schools
- Bishop Eustace Preparatory School – Pennsauken Township
- Camden Catholic High School – Cherry Hill Township
- Gloucester Catholic High School – Gloucester City
- Holy Spirit High School – Absecon
- Our Lady of Mercy Academy (New Jersey) – Newfield
- Paul VI High School – Haddonfield
- St. Augustine Preparatory School – Richland
- Wildwood Catholic Academy – North Wildwood
School mergers and closures
- Annunciation School – merged in 2008 with St. Francis de Sales school in Barrington to become Our Lady of the Sacred Heart school. [11]
- Our Lady of the Sacred Heart – closed in 2009. [12]
- Sacred Heart School – Mount Ephraim (1947 to 1997). [13] [14]
- Saint Joseph High School – Hammonton, closed 2020. [15] [16] [17]
Ecclesiastical province
See also
References
- ↑ "Diocese of Camden | Coat of Arms - Diocese of Camden" . April 4, 2016.
- ↑ Diocese History page on the web site of the Diocese of Camden.
- 1 2 3 NJ.com, Kelly Heyboer | NJ Advance Media for; NJ.com, Ted Sherman | NJ Advance Media for (2019-02-13). "N.J. Catholic dioceses release names of 188 priests and deacons accused of sexual abuse of children" . nj . Retrieved 2020-02-09 .
- 1 2 3 "Price tag for priest sex abuse in New Jersey? $11 million and climbing" . KYW . 2020-02-09 . Retrieved 2020-02-09 .
- ↑ Roebuck, Jeremy (July 31, 2020). "Camden's Roman Catholic diocese suspends payments to clergy abuse victims, citing COVID-19 financial stress" . Philadelphia Inquirer . Retrieved August 2, 2020 .
- 1 2 3 4 5 Walsh, Jim. "Lawsuits accuse three Camden diocese priests of clergy sex abuse" . Courier-Post .
- ↑ Koloff, Abbott; Yellin, Deena. "Over a year, more than 230 sex abuse suits have been filed in NJ against the Catholic Church" . North Jersey Media Group .
- ↑ Shanahan, Ed (April 20, 2022). "New Jersey Diocese Agrees to Settle Sex Abuse Claims for $87.5 Million" . The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
- ↑ Roebuck, Jeremy; Farr, Stephanie (2 October 2020). "Camden's Roman Catholic diocese declares bankruptcy, citing COVID-19 costs and priest abuse claims" . The Philadelphia Inquirer . Retrieved 2 October 2020 .
- ↑ "Past Bishops" . Diocese of Camden . Retrieved 2023-05-07 .
- ↑ Staff. "In the fall, different schools will open" , Catholic Star Herald , June 19, 2008. Accessed August 25, 2013. "Annunciation, Bellmawr, will merge with St. Francis de Sales, Barrington, for a new school, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, at the Barrington site."
- ↑ Staff. "Catholic school in Barrington is shut down" , The Philadelphia Inquirer , June 18, 2009. Accessed August 25, 2013. "Just one month after saying that Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Regional School in Barrington would reopen next year, the Diocese of Camden announced yesterday that it was closing the school for good. Bishop Joseph Galante explained in a letter that the school - in operation for just one year - had suffered an enrollment decline so steep that five pastors whose parishes sent children to Sacred Heart had urged him to close it."
- ↑ Smith, Patricia (27 April 1997). "Families Lament Plan To Close Sacred Heart Some Have Sent Children To The School In Mount Ephraim For Three Generations" . Retrieved 9 March 2016 .
- ↑ "Our History" . Retrieved 9 March 2016 .
- ↑ "Five Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Camden to close at end of school year" . Diocese of Camden. 17 April 2020 . Retrieved 18 April 2020 .
- ↑ Yates, Riley (17 April 2020). "5 N.J. Catholic schools to close, including South Jersey football powerhouse" . NJ.com . Retrieved 18 April 2020 .
- ↑ Franklin, Chris (June 5, 2020). "2 Jersey Shore Catholic schools slated to close have been saved" . nj .
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden Official Site
- Catholic cemeteries, Diocese of Camden
- Catholic Charities of Camden
- Catholic Star Herald - Official Online Newspaper of the Diocese
- Faith in the Future - Schools News and Information Site for the Diocese Archived 2009-02-15 at the Wayback Machine
- Gathering Gods Gifts - Parish Planning for the Diocese Archived 2018-03-23 at the Wayback Machine
- Lay Ministry Formation Program - Diocese Education Program Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine
- New Jersey Provincial Directory
Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Newark
|
---|
39°55′33″N 75°07′11″W / 39.92583°N 75.11972°W / 39.92583; -75.11972